[ExI] A 'libertarian' solution to political bullshit on this list?

[BillK]

On Sat, 13 Oct 2018 at 00:20, spike wrote:
> Please my friends, have mercy upon me.  I have been moderating the list for about the last 16 years.  Most of the time it has been very easy indeed: I was brought in to help quench a ferocious flame war, which finally burned out.  Since then and up until about 2016, only minor grass fires, nothing difficult.
>
> I have gotten more complaints, mostly offlist and a few on list, about these political threads just in the past year more than the other 15 yrs combined.  I request in sincere earnest an abrupt end to it.  At this point, if one wishes to discuss the current occupant of the White House, whose name escapes me at the moment, do take it to another forum.  We are getting excessive fatigue on that topic.
>

Sorry Spike, but the job of list moderator is not just a popularity contest.
A list moderator has to do what is necessary to keep the list in good
health and the members contributing happily.

If a member becomes unhappy with the state of a list they should find
another list more suited to their opinions. The list moderator should
not allow an unhappy member to spend years causing more and more
disruption.

How many list members have to leave or stop contributing before a
malign influence is stopped from inflicting more damage?
This is not just a minor annoyance. Some of these lost contributors
may never return to the list, so the damage could be permanent.

BillK